Life of Lies
by VampireElite
Summary: When eighteen-year-old Rose Hathaway falls for her Russian instructor, sparks will fly. Especially since Rose is dating someone. Of course, Dimitri doesn't need to know about him, or about the fact that he's abusive. A few lies from Rose make everything okay, until the truth slips out. How will her boyfriend react? How will Dimitri react? And, more importantly, how will Rose react?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Welcome to my new story. I decided that it wouldn't hurt to try and work on two stories at once, so here I am! I wrote this chapter in about an hour, and I haven't edited yet, so any typos are going to have to wait. I plan on adding new chapters at least twice a week, which should be easy for now considering all the snow around me! Now, I'm going to stop blabber and let you read the story.**

**Chapter Updates: 1**

Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I frowned. I was inside the dressing room of _Big D's Strip Club_, getting ready to walk outside and serve alcohol to disgusting men who look at me like I was a piece of meat. Oh, the woes of being Rose Hathaway. I was eighteen, and I had just graduated out of high-school. I worked at a cafe during the day, and during the night I worked at this strip club. Illegally, of course, since you had to be twenty-one to work at a place that served alcohol.

Oh well. A person has to make a living somehow. My best friend, Lissa Dragomir, worked at an animal shelter, and she not only made enough to satisfy her wants, but she also got monthly checks from her parents.

My parents never sent me money; or anything, for that matter. In fact, I hadn't spoken to my mom since I walked out of her house when I was fifteen. Hell, I didn't even know _who_ my dad was, much less _where_ he was. Or if he was even still alive.

Luckily, Lissa's parents love me like I was their own. They offered me a home, bought me what I needed, and gave me an allowance. I told them that there was no need for them to send me any money since I was eighteen now, and since I wasn't their kid. They accepted this, but insisted that if I ever needed anything to call them.

Lissa and I would probably still be living there if it wasn't for her brother, Andre. He was an arrogant bitch to me, all because I wouldn't date him. Or rather, I wouldn't get in his bed. When he tried to kiss me the first time, I had slapped his face and stormed out of the Dragomir household, and took a long walk to cool off. I had really wanted to punch something, though. It was a bad day to be a street pole. I had actually put a dent in the son of a bitch; and fractured my hand in the process.

A knock on the door interrupted me, and quickly opened it. Stan, my boss, was glaring at me. "Hathaway, get your curvy little self out there this instant! Those two men need attention," he said, indicating to a table in the corner that was slightly covered in shadows.

"I don't know why they'd want that slut when they could have me." I heard Tasha, a fellow worker, say.

"I'm sure they just prefer sluts over whores." I retorted.

"At least I'm not cheap." Tasha fired back.

"At least I could get a job at Hooters."

Tasha shot me a glare as I walked away. It was true; my breasts were a lot bigger than Tasha's, and as was my butt, which made her furious.

I smiled as I approached the table where the two men sat. "Welcome to Big D's. What's the name of you two fine gentlemen?" I said in a fake sexy voice. Men like these two really disgusted me, and it was even more bothersome when they openly stared at my chest.

"Miles." said one of the men.

"Anthony." replied the other.

"Well Miles, Anthony, what can I get for you?" I asked.

"I'll take the boobs, extra large." said Miles, with a smirk.

I wanted to punch him in the face, but I couldn't afford to loose this job. "Not for sale, sorry." I said with a fake grin. "Order off the menu, please."

"Alright, I'll take glass of whiskey. Large."

"Same here." Anthony said.

"A whole glass? Are you sure you boys can handle it?" I asked with a smirk.

"We can handle you, can't we?" said Anthony.

"No. No, you cannot handle me." I said, growing angry. Honestly, do they have to act like that?

"Oh no baby, you can't handle me." This time, it was Miles who said it.

My face flushed, and I was getting even angrier. "From where I stand, there isn't much to handle." I retorted.

Anthony busted out laughing, and Miles looked really pissed. Before he could say anything, I went off to get their whiskey.

Coming back two minutes later, I set down a glass in front of Anthony, then bent to set down Miles' glass. As I bent, he shoved his hand in my half-exposed chest. I dropped the glass jerked his arm away, slapping his face in the process. He turned back to me and man, was he pissed! I sudden fear built in my chest when he abruptly stood up, causing his chair to fall backwards. The music in the club was loud, though, so only the men at the next table noticed.

Miles suddenly grabbed my shoulders and lifted me off the ground, then threw me to the floor. I gasped as my back hit the hard wood, and I saw Miles' foot lashing out towards me. I turned over quickly, getting to my knees and grabbing the first thing I could; which just so happened to be a wooden chair.

I swung it around, slamming it into Miles. He groaned and fell over, and Anthony – who'd been watching with wide eyes until now – got up and came towards me. He jerked me off the ground with one arm, and I did the only thing I could think of: I punched him in the nose.

Anthony released me and held on to his nose, and Miles was ready to fight again. Just as he came towards me, a man from the table next to ours came over and shoved him backwards. Miles fell onto the table, causing it to tip over, and they crashed to the floor.

Stan, who had heard the commotion, was at the scene now. He took one look at Miles, Anthony, and the blonde guy who'd came to the rescue, and he grabbed my arm, pulling me to the back room.

"What the hell are you doing, Hathaway?" he barked. "You just caused a fucking fight!"

My mouth fell open, and I glared at Stan. "He stuck his hand in my shirt, Stan! What the fuck was I suppose to do?"

"You're a stripper, for God's sake! What do you expect?"

"I am _not _a stripper!" I said, raising my voice. "I'm just a waiter at this dump!"

"No, you're not." Stan hissed. "Because you're fired!"

"No, I quit!" I screamed, and stalked away. I didn't bother getting my clothes that I wore here; I was too pissed off for that.

Jumping into my cheap car, I slammed the door and took off. Arriving at my apartment building a few minutes later, I stormed in and barged into my room that I shared with Lissa. What I saw when I walked in did _not_ make me a happy camper.

"Rose!" Lissa cried. "You scared the hell out of me!"

I stared at her with wide eyes. She was sitting on the lap of a black-haired guy who looked about our age. From their swollen lips and Lissa's guilty eyes, I could tell that they'd just been kissing.

"Uh, I-I thought y-you were at w-work..." Lissa stammered.

"Obviously." I huffed. "But I was f- I quit."

Getting up, Lissa came over to me. "What? Why?" she asked

"Because the people there are disgusting bastards." I said. "Now, who's sitting on our couch?" I asked, glaring at the guy.

"Oh, that's Christian." Lissa said cheerfully.

"Uh-huh. So, what, are you two a couple."

"Yeah," she said, still excited. "He's really nice."

"Looks like an angel." I said sarcastically.

"Like you're one to talk." Christian spoke up now, looking at my work outfit. And really, there wasn't much to look at. I was wearing a black, lacy v-neck that stopped just above my belly-button. The bottoms – which were also black and lacy – could've passed as bathing-suit bottoms.

I quickly went to my room to change.

When I came back out, I saw that Christian was gone. I sighed, and stared at Lissa. "Ready for bed?" I asked her.

"Yeah." she said quietly. "But first... I want you to tell me what happened."

I cringed. I was hoping that she wouldn't ask that. With another sigh, I sat beside her on the couch and told her about what happened at the bar.

"You beat up two guys?" she asked me.

"Well, no. I just slapped one and threw a chair at him. I just punched the other one. I honestly didn't know what I was doing." I confessed.

"That's it; We're going to that new place to learn some defensive fighting moves." she told me.

"Liss, I don't work at the club anymore. There's really no need."

"Oh, so just because you don't work at a club means that you and I are safe from all the rapists of the world?" she asked.

"God, Liss, you make it sound like they groped me or something! He actually just shoved a five-dollar bill in the shirt."

"It doesn't matter. We're signing up." she told me, in a voice that said _Don't Argue With Me_.

* * *

So that's how, the next day, I found myself in front of a place called _Offense Defense_.

"Such a creative name," I said. "Kind of sounds like Office Depot."

Lissa rolled her eyes and led me inside. We went to the front desk and Lissa signed us in.

"Don't you have to sign up or something?" I asked her.

She glanced at me sheepishly. "I kind of signed us up a week ago."

This time it was I who rolled my eyes. "Of course you did. This is going to be the worst day ever." I said as we walked through the doors to the training room.

A few people that were in there gave us curios glances, but then went back to their stretches. Walking over to two mats that were side by side, Lissa and I started mimicking them.

"Looks like we have new students." rumbled a voice with a faint Russian accent. I looked up, and saw a tall, muscled man with shoulder-length brown hair and chocolate eyes. He was hot. Really hot. And those chocolate eyes, I realized, were staring strait into my mine.

**Well, it's certainly not hard to guess who's staring at  
Rose, now is it? Hehe, they meet at last. And he is the  
fighting instructor. Hehe, what's going to happen?  
I'm not telling ;) But please, if you have any suggestions,  
do share them with me! **

**~ VampireElite**


	2. Chapter 2

I was hypnotized by those eyes. It was as if I could dive into them. They were such a deep, bottomless brown. They -

"Introduce yourselves, please." My thoughts were interrupted as the Russian guy spoke. Man, that accent was to die for.

"Um..." I said, a little confused. I was so mesmerized by those eyes that I couldn't even say my own name.

"Welcome, Um." he said with a sly grin. "And you're name?" he asked, indicating to Lissa.

"Wait, no!" I said. "My name's not Um. It's Rose." I narrowed my eyes at him, daring him to make another comment on my speech. Instead he just nodded.

"And... my name's Vasilisa," said Lissa, "But call me Lissa."

Again, he nodded to her, and then he walked up to the front of the room. "Well, everyone, welcome to Offense Defense."

"Office Depot..." I muttered to myself. I started to realize that no, they actually didn't sound similar. Oh well.

"What was that, Rose?" said the instructor.

I gave him my trademark smile. "I said 'what a lovely name.'"

This time it was he who narrowed his eyes at me.

"Rose..." Lissa warned me. "Be nice."

Instructor-guy cleared his throat. "As I was saying, Welcome to Offense Defense. I'm your instructor, Dimitri Belikov. I will be teaching you to defend yourselves today."

"No shit." I muttered sarcastically, making sure he couldn't hear me. The guys who stood in front of us heard me though, and they started laughing.

"What's so funny, gentlemen?" Dimitri asked sharply.

"Hot stuff back there. She's a real catch." replied one, glancing over his shoulder at me.

Dimitri strode forward to the guy who had spoken. "What's your name?"

"Jesse."

"Well, Jesse, I'd appreciate it if you would shut up and pay attention." Dimitri said. Then he turned to me. "As for you, Rose, keep your smart comments to yourself."

"Sure thing, Comrade." I said, unable to resist. The guy was Russian, after all.

He rolled his eyes and stalked back up to the front of the room. "Let's continue. You'll all start out my facing the other person on your mat. You'll practice punching and kicking with them."

Okay, easy enough. I turned to Lissa, and we stood facing each other. We stood awkwardly for a few seconds, and Dimitri came towards us. Great, another lecture.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

"Rose knocked out two guys yesterday. I'd rather not expose myself to her strength." Lissa said.

Dimitri gave me a puzzled glance. "You did what?"

"I didn't knock out two guys. I just... gave one a bloody nose, and hit the other one with a chair..." I mumbled, not looking into Dimitri's eyes. For some reason, I didn't want him to know about my encounter with Anthony and Miles. Besides, I endured stuff like that all the time. Of course, I would never hit my boyfriend with a chair, or punch him in the nose.

Dimitri, sensing my discomfort, changed the subject. "Well, don't worry Lissa. No one will be getting punched or kicked today. Your just aiming and striking out, but not making contact."

"Oh." said Lissa, as her face flushed.

"Well, let's get started then." I said. I pushed my fist out towards her, aiming for her shoulder. She easily dodged, and tried to kick out at me. I caught her leg in midair, and shoved it back down. We went on like that for a while, and Dimitri left us to go check on the others.

At the end of class, I was exhausted. After the kicking and punching thing, we had to do wall-sits for ten minutes. And then jumping jacks. And then push-ups. And then stretches. "Lissa, we are not going back there. I am exhausted." I wheezed.

"Yes we are. Tomorrow, at 6:00pm." she told me.

I groaned in response, and we kept walking. Offense Defense was only about a ten minute walk from our apartment, so we chose to walk instead of drive. But I really wished we would've drove.

A block from our apartment building, my cell-phone rang. "Hello?" I said.

"Hey baby," said a voice that was slightly slurred. "I'm waiting for you outside of your apartment."

"Who is it?" Lissa asked me, but I'm pretty sure she already knew.

"Um... Adrian." I said.

Lissa gave me a look, and slid her hand across her throat, telling me to not make any plans with him. But honestly? I can't turn down Adrian.

"Rose, are you there?" I heard Adrian say.

"Yeah, I'm...here." I said.

"Well get your ass down here and meet me at my car."

I hesitated for a moment, but said "Okay."

I heard the sound that indicated that the phone call was over, and I sighed. Adrian had hung up without saying goodbye. Again.

"Rose, you are not going with Adrian!" Lissa said.

"I have to. You know I do." I replied with a frown.

"Rose, you have got to stop seeing him." she told me.

"Liss, you know that if I stop seeing him then he'll just do something stupid."

"I just don't want you to get hurt." she whispered, as we rounded the corner to the apartment building.

I saw Adrian waiting for me, standing outside of his red Ferrari. "Go strait inside," I told Lissa when I saw the bottle in his hands.

"Rose-"

"Go." I said sharply. She gave me a sad glance but didn't argue. She turned around and walked inside of our apartment.

"Finally," said Adrian, when I approached him. "I've been waiting for fifteen minutes." His tone was angry.

"I'm sorry. We were out for a walk." I lied, shrugging my shoulders.

"Well," he laughed, "That makes everything okay then." He stepped towards me, and I shied away. "Get in the backseat." he said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Adrian, no... I need to rest." I said.

"No? Did you just say no?" his voice was raising in anger, and I shrank down.

"Not tonight, please. I've had a rough day." I whispered.

"You've had a rough day? Well, poor you. I've been getting that same damn excuse for a week Rose!" he yelled. "I haven't had sex in six days, baby. Six day!" he hissed.

I frowned. "Adrian, the last time I saw you was ten days ago."

"So?" he said with a cold laugh.

"So? So, you haven't had sex in ten days." I managed to say.

"No, six." Adrian gave me a cold smile.

"So... what, you're cheating on me?" I choked out.

Adrian stepped closer, and I stepped back, but I was now trapped against the side of the car. "No, but I need sex somewhere since your such a fucking whore!" he said. "Is that why you're tired, huh? Been getting too much action?"

"No, I-"

"Get in the car."

"No, Adrian."

"What did you say?"

"I said no. I'm not getting in your car." I said shakily.

"Yes you are." he growled. He jerked open the back door and shoved me in. He tried slamming it, but my ankle got caught between the door. I screamed in agony, and my body writhed as pain shot up my leg.

"Damn it!" Adrian yelled. "You can't fucking do anything right!" He jerked open the door again, and grabbed my hair. He threw me out of the car, and I crashed down onto the pavement. I let out another wail of pain, and tears slid down my cheek. Adrian's car rushed pass me, and I flinched away.

When he was gone, I tried getting up, but my ankle gave out and I screamed again.

"Rose? Rose, what's going on?" I heard someone say. I second later I saw a black-haired man rushing up to me.

"Christian?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's me. What the hell happened?" he asked.

"I... I fell." I lied.

Christian stared at me hard for a moment, but shrugged. "So can you walk?" he asked.

"No."

"Grab on to my shoulder, then." he said.

He helped me stand up and I balanced on one leg as I grabbed his shoulder. We started hobbling towards the building, and then we came to the stairs that led into the entrance. "Oh God," I said miserably. "I can't do this." Looking down at my ankle, I saw that it was slightly swollen, purple, and bleeding.

"Look, let's not even bother with the stairs. You're going to the hospital."

"No!" I said quickly. "No. I can't."

"You have to, or else your foot may have to be amputated. " he said.

"I seriously doubt that." I told him.

"Fine. We'll let Lissa decide."

"Deal." I said. I knew Lissa would side with me; she knew that I couldn't go to the hospital, or else they'd ask questions. She knew it, and she respected it.

And thirty minutes later, I found myself sitting with my arms crossed in a blue hospital chair. "This is stupid." I grumbled. "I don't need any medical attention."

"Yes you do." said Lissa. "Look at your ankle!"

"No thanks. It was pretty gross last time I checked." I replied.

Just then the doctor walked in. "Well well well, it seems that you've simply bruised your ankle. It isn't broken, or even twisted. May I ask what happened?"

I glanced at the doctor and stared right into her eyes. "No, you may not."

She gave me a puzzled glance. "Ah, well then. I suppose you're all set to go, right after I bandage it up. You'll have to stay off of it tomorrow."

"I can't! I have to go to work!" I told her.

"I'm sorry, but unless you want to endure a lot of pain tomorrow, I suggest that you rest." she told me sternly.

I sighed and slouched down into my seat as she began wrapping my ankle. When we were finished, I hobbled as quickly as I could to Lissa's car. I jumped into the passenger side before Christian could, and grinned triumphantly when he sat in the back.

"Lose the smirk, Hathaway, or I'll leave you at the bottom of the stairs." he told me.

"No you won't. Lissa won't let you." I said.

He rolled his eyes and buckled up as Lissa joined us. We started driving back to the apartment in silence. I kept staring out of the window, lost in a daydream of a hot Russian guy with shoulder-length brown hair and chocolate eyes.

"Rose?" Lissa's voice broke me from my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"What did Adrian do?" she said quietly.

In the mirror I saw that Christian was asleep. With a sigh, I told her what happened.

"I'm glad that your foot got caught, then. He probably had much worse planned." she told me when I finished.

"Liss, he just wanted to... spend time with me." I said.

"In bed." she replied.

"Look, he's my boyfriend, okay?" I told her, growing defensive.

"And Christian's my boyfriend. He didn't slam my foot in a car door."

"But it was an acc-"

"Or try and drag me off so that he could take advantage of me." she kept going.

"He doesn't take advantage of me!" I said, raising my voice.

"Rose, you've never called him and asked to hang out with him! He always calls you. And you always end up going over to his house and getting naked with him! Can't you see that he's just using you for sex, like some whore or something?"

I stared at her in disbelief. "You think I'm a whore?" Funny. Adrian had called me a whore, too.

"No Rose, that's not what I meant!" I didn't give her time to finish explaining, because just then we pulled into the apartment building's parking lot. I got out and slammed my door, and limped as fast as I could to the door. When I got to the stairs I didn't even bother for grace. I just crawled up them.

Lissa was right behind me, with Christian following close behind. An elevator was just arriving as I got to them, and I quickly held down the button to close the doors before Lissa could get on. When the elevator dinged and the doors opened, I got off and headed to our apartment. Lissa and Christian were standing in front of the door. _Damn, they took the stairs_, I thought.

"I don't want to talk about it Lissa." I said as I pushed past her.

"Adrian was going to rape you, Rose! Face the facts! He's using you. I'm just trying to protect you."

"Yeah, let's face the facts." I said in a whisper. "Everywhere I go, guys look at me like I'm a piece of meat. Everywhere I go, something bad happens. Something gets ruined. Everywhere I go, I just end up regretting something." I turned and walked into my bedroom, slamming the door and then locking it.

"Rose, open the door!" Lissa pleaded. "I'm sorry!"

"Go away!" I yelled. "I don't care!"

Through the door I heard the muffled voice of Christian. I heard two sets of footsteps walk away.

I stared at the door and then turned to my bed. I laid down and buried my head in the pillows. And for the first time in a long time, I cried. Yeah, I cried earlier, but that was because of pain. Physical pain. This; this was emotional pain. Mental pain. And I was so tired of enduring it. I was so tired of sucking it all up. So I let out in big sobs. I cried. And cried. And cried. I cried myself to sleep.

And I had my first nightmare about Adrian.

* * *

_**So, how are you liking this story  
so far? Rose is a bit emotional, huh?  
And I know, I know: Adrian isn't really  
a bad guy in Vampire Academy. But I like  
using him as the evil one ;) And so far, the  
characters are Rose, Dimitri, Lissa, Christian,  
Adrian, Miles, Anthony, Tasha, and Stan. In the  
next chapter I will introduce Mia and Mason, along  
with Eddie. I'll try to make all characters like they are.**_

_**~ VampireElite**_


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up the next morning baggy-eyed and battered. I rolled off the bed painfully, and made my slow journey to the other end of the earth - AKA, the bathroom. Once inside, I shut the door behind and turned around. I gasped in horror at the sight that I was confronted with - my reflection. I let out a strangled scream, and the pain in my ankle was forgotten as I jumped a foot in the air. "Oh my God!" I yelled, to no one in particular. Cupping my left cheek, I stared in horror at the purple bruise that was under my eye. Apparently my face had collided with the pavement when Adrian threw me out of his car.

Upon further examination, I discovered that I also had a bruise on the left side of my ribs, but it was small, and didn't hurt. I carefully tried twisting my upper body, and was greatly relieved to find that I could turn without any pain. The only thing really hurting was my ankle, but no way I was letting that stop me.

Stepping into the shower, I let the cold water flow over my body, soothing me. After remaining like that for a few minutes, I turned the hot water on and began applying my strawberry-and-cream body wash, rubbing it all over me. When my hand passed over my breast, my breathing hitched. I hadn't been touched in eleven days. It's been eleven days without any affection from any man. But then again, what Adrian had for me... Well, I don't know what it was, but I damn sure knew it wasn't affection. If it was, then it was the most fucked up affection ever. Affectionate punches, affectionate kicks, affectionate rough sex that left me feeling like I'd been hit by a bus..._ Yeah, I have the best boyfriend ever_, I thought to myself sarcastically.

I removed my hand from my boob, and I kept rubbing the body wash on me. It felt cool against my skin, and I watched in fascination as the creamy soap turned into suds, and I brought my hand to my face/ Feeling childish, I made an O with my thumb and index finger, then rubbed some soap on my hands. I brought the O shape to my face again, and blew gently. A bubble blew from my fingers, but didn't make it's escape as it popped. I tried again, and the bubble got a little farther, but still didn't free itself. _Third time's a charm,_ I told myself, bringing a freshly lathered O to my mouth. I blew air gently this time, and as the bubble was about halfway out, I blew harder. The bubble popped, and suds came back, stinging my eyes. I yelped and jumped backwards, slipping on the shower floor. I flailed my hands rapidly, catching the wall before I could fall on my ass. My ankle tensed at the almost-fall, and although it wasn't a bad pain, it still made me wince.

_Me and my stupid ideas..._

I didn't feel like washing my hair, but I wanted to smell extra good since I was going to work today, so I reached for my bottle of 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner - also strawberry scented - and squeezed some into my hands. I massaged my scalp gently, wincing as I mashed a bruise. Since I hadn't had sex with Adrian, or been around him, in eleven days - not counting last night - I didn't have any bruises from being hit. And I felt pretty damn good about that.

I decided to get out of the shower when the hot water started running cold. Grabbing a fluffy teal towel, I dried off and began getting ready, drying my hair and styling in neatly, making it cascade down my back. I loved my long hair, and I didn't ever want to cut bothering to wrap up in my towel since I was alone, I walked into my bedroom and dug through my closet. I grabbed a pair of dark skinny jeans and I sparkly gray short-sleeved shirt the exposed one shoulder. I put on a pair of pink boxer-like girl underwear and a strapless black bra. I grinned when I imagined how sexy I looked in my bra and panties. I imagined walking towards Adrian, all catty and playful, teasing him, not letting him get to me. Of course, I knew that in real life, Adrian would beat the living daylights out of me for even attempting to refuse him.

Sighing, I finished getting dressed, applied some makeup and plenty of concealer to hide the bruise on my face, and grabbed my nametag off of my dresser. I slipped on a pair of black flats, and walked out of the apartment, hopping into my car. I shut the door behind my and gripped the steering wheel. I glanced down briefly to examine my ankle. For all the fuss everyone made yesterday , I was surprised to realize that I hadn't felt much pain since moving around a bit. Turning my attention back to the parking lot of the apartment building, I cranked the car and backed out of my parking space, then began driving to the cafe yo begin my boring shift of serving coffee and bacon and eggs to strangers with scruffy beards and overalls.

**^~::~::~^**

I arrived at the cafe about ten minutes later, and after checking in, I attached my nametag to my shirt. Since this cafe was basically run by country folk, we didn't need to wear uniforms. And since I wasn't a cook I didn't have to wear an apron. I was just the main attraction waiter with the sexy body that made the men in this place whistle and make comments, which might've flattered a country woman but had no effect on me, such as the man who often said "Well looky here, Daisy Duke has arrived at last.". Who the hell was Daisy Duke?

I went strait to the counter to ask what I needed to do, and my friend/co-worker Mia Rinaldi quickly filled me in. "Mason is covering the three occupied tables we have now, but I want you to take the one over there - "

"With the old man?" I whined. He was bald and wrinkly, and he had huge bulging eyes. He was like the stalker perv that drove around the neighborhood in a white van, asking kids if they wanted to have a look at his secret freckle or some shit.

"Yes," Mia told me with a glare, "And any other table that becomes occupied in that section."

"Fine," I huffed, and got right to work, Walking over to creepy perv man, I gave him a dazzling smile and asked him what he wanted to eat.

He picked up his cup of coffee with shaking hands, spilling a little on his shirt, which he failed to notice. He set back down with his hands still shaking, and squinted at the menu in front of him. "I want me a... a..." he began, with a tremor in his voice. I couldn't help but notice that his body was shaking a little too. I swear, I suddenly wondered if there was a mini earthquake happening that I wasn't aware of. "I want... the..." he began again, but didn't finish his sentence as he kept looking at the menu.

"You know, the eggs are really good, as is the oatmeal," I said, tapping my foot impatiently.

"What?" the old man rasped.

"I said, the eggs and oatmeal is really good," I repeated, louder this time.

"What?" he repeated, squinting at me as if I'd grown another head.

"I said that the eggs and oatmeal are great choices!" I said, raising my voice a couple octaves. The people from the two other tables peered at me curiously, as I glared at the old man.

"I'll take the sausage biscuit, with a side of bacon and toast." he told me.

I glared at him a few more seconds before turning away and marching back to the counter, where I handed Mia the ticket I'd written on. Leaning against the counter, I let out a huff, and felt the pain in my ankle returning. I saw someone walking up to me, and glared at a red-headed man with freckles smudged across his face.

"Hey there, Hathaway. I see that you just took Victor's order." he said with a grin.

"Oh shut up, Mason," I smiled. "I just offered him my advice."

Mason chuckled. "Be easy on him, Rose. He has some disease.. Scando-something."

"Fine," I sighed. "But he better keep those bulging eyes on my face and not my body."

"Well, I, for one, would much rather keep my eyes on your body." he said with a grin.

I punched his arm playfully. "Come on, Mase. You know Adrian would kill you if he heard you say that."

"No, he'd try to hit me, just like he hits you," Mason said, becoming serious. "I heard about last night, you know."

"Lissa..." I groaned. "Why does she have to run her mouth..."

"Rose, you can't keep letting him do that to you. It's not right."

"It's not your place to worry about it." I told him.

Before he could respond, Mia interrupted. "Rose, someone needs you at that table over there." she said, motioning behind me. "And take his order quickly, before he realizes that he's too sexy to be here."

I turned around, and a tall man with shoulder-length brown hair tied in a short ponytail and chocolate eyes met my gaze. After staring for a few seconds, I saw a slight smirk grow on his lips. Snapping out of my daze, I walked over to the table, a little more eager than necessary. "Hi!" I said with a smile.

"Hello," he chuckled. "Sorry to interrupt you and your boyfriend, there."

"Oh, no, he's not my boyfriend!" I said quickly. "I um.. I don't have a boyfriend." I wanted to slap myself as soon as the words left my mouth. Oh fuck, I'm so glad Adrian isn't here. He would surely have punched me on the spot. "So, um, what would you like to drink?" I asked, putting a grin back on my face.

Dimitri's raised an eyebrow questioningly, and I kept the grin on my face. "I'll take a cup of coffee, thanks." he told me.

"Alright, I'll be back in a flash!" I said, turning around with a smile on my face. Mia giggled when she saw the stupid grin on my face, and quickly gave me a cup of coffee to give to "sex on legs", as she called Dimitri.

I turned and walk back to him, setting the cup down in front of him. "Are you ready to order?" I asked, with the stupid grin still on my face. I faintly remembered someone telling me that my face would freeze if I strained my muscles too hard.

"No, not quite. But I do have a question," he said, raising an eyebrow again. Man, I wish I could do that...

"Oh, and what would that be?" I asked, with little butterflies in my stomach.

"What happened to your ankle?"

And the butterflies were replaced with bees. Glancing down, I saw that my ankle was now swollen again, and mottled with purple and black spots. Seeing Dimitri had masked the pain, but now it came flooding back to me. "Oh, I um... fell..." I said. Wow, the second lie in five minutes.

He gave me a hard stare, obviously knowing that I was lying. He'd had this friendly and easygoing demeanor when he walked in, but the trainer personality was seeping back in now. Finally, he just nodded. "Well, I'll take a waffle. With maple syrup." he told me.

Nodding my head, I turned and walked back to the counter, handing Mia the ticket. The pain in my ankle had made a painful return, and the rest of the day at work was painful and slow. When I got off work three hours later, I returned home to rest my ankle.

**^~::~::~^**

When I got home, I plopped down on the couch beside of Lissa and we chatted about our day. Apparently, a new dog had arrived at the animal shelter, a Labradoodle, I think she called it. It was close to having puppies, and Lissa received the honor of caring for it at the shelter. "I have a favor," she asked me sweetly.

"What?" I said, giving her a questioning glance.

"I need you to use your Rose charm, and get the guy at the front desk to let you sneak in a puppy."

"Liss," I groaned. "Do I have to?"

"Not today," she told me. "I won't be able to get a puppy until about three weeks. But soon you'll have to."

"What's in it for me?" I asked casually.

"Well, how about a $100 gift card to Victoria Secret's?"

"Deal!" I said excitedly.

"Yay, I'm getting a puppy!" Lissa squealed, hugging me.

Just then, my phone rang. "Hello?" I said into the phone.

"Baby, I'm sorry, baby, please come to my house, please baby." I heard the voice of a drunken male on the phone, and instantly knew it was Adrian. "I need you, baby, I need you. I want you to come to my house, now. I want to say sorry, and I want to make it up to you. I want to pleasure you." He added a sexy growl to that last part, and I felt a little warmth seep between my legs. I hadn't been touched in eleven days. Desire coursed through my body at the thought of being touched.

"I'll be there in ten minutes." I breathed. I hung up the phone, and got up quickly, wincing as my ankle started burning.

"Rose, where do you think you're going?" Lissa demanded, getting up from the couch to face me.

"I'm going to see Adrian." I told her.

"He just messed up your ankle! What the fuck is wrong with you?" she asked in bewilderment.

"He was drunk!" I stated, nevermind the fact that he was drunk now, too.

Lissa gave an exasperated sigh. "Rose, one of these days you'll learn that he's bad for you."

I didn't respond, just grabbed my stuff, sprayed on some sexy perfume, and started driving to Adrian's house. I got there in seven minutes, and jumped out of the car quickly, jogging up to Adrian's steps. I opened the door and was met by the reek of alcohol. I walked casually into the living room and looked around, not spotting Adrian. I was about to turn around when hands suddenly gripped my wrist, and a slurred voice whispered in my ear. "Took you long enough to get here, Rose."

"I.. I'm sorry..." I replied, as I got a tingling feeling in my lady parts.

"Well," he chuckled, "I'm ready to get started now, with making it up to you." he told told me. "But now I think that you'll need to make it up to me." he growled.

I nodded as my breathing hitched, and Adrian, still gripping one wrist, began dragging me toward his bedroom. He turned when we entered and locked the door behind him. He led me to the bed, and stopped in front of me. Before I could take a breath, Adrian's fist connected with my rib. I let out a strangled scream at the pain, as Adrian shoved me onto the bed. "Who the fuck did you tell?" he hissed into my ear.

"No one," I gasped. His fist lashed out to me again, hitting me in the side.

"Don't lie to me," he growled.

I grunted in pain, curling inwards. "Ch-Christian," I gasped. "He saw what happened and... and Lissa knows..." I told him.

He hurled another fist at me, connecting with my breast. I screeched in pain, and a few tears leaked out of my eyes. "I'm sorry," I sobbed. "I'm sorry."

And then the beating really began.

**A/N**

**I am SO sorry! I won't be able to update again for a while. I have BIG family issues going on, but I promise I will work like crazy to post chapters when I get back! Again, I am so so so sorry! *Get's down on hands and knees* Please forgive me**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Warning: This has not been edited yet. Sorreh. _**

When the next morning arrived, I wondered what had happened. I thought that maybe last night had been just a bad dream. And honestly, I probably would've just convinced myself that it was a bad dream if it weren't for the pain.

The pain. Oh, God, the _pain_. I'd like to say that I was feeling joyful type of pain, the kind that you feel after making love to someone. But no. What happened last night was not what someone would call 'making love'. It was hard-core sex... the kind that people call 'fucking'. That's all Adrian wanted from me. Just a good fuck. He told me so, too.

But it was my fault. Adrian said so. He said that I deserved every bit of pain I endured, because I was a worthless slut who went around practically begging people to fuck me. He said that he only felt sorry for me. A few months ago, I would've called him a bastard and decked him in the nose. But now... I was starting to believe him.

When I went to public places, people stared at me - or, rather, they stared at my body. They saw my large breasts, my curves, my figure. They eye-fucked me, and I felt dirty. I felt so, so dirty. Maybe I did deserve to me punched, and kicked... Maybe I deserved worse. Because surely, surely I wasn't just enduring this for no reason. The world wouldn't be so cruel.

My whole body ached. My ribs, my stomach, my head, my face... everything. What happened last night was unexplainable. Adrian loved me, didn't he? There was no way that he'd just beat me.

I shuddered. Adrian had beat me last night. Words from a high school health class ran through my head: _It starts off with shoving, then moves to hitting, and then punching, and then rape. _But that hadn't happened. Had it? I came over here for sex, and that's what I got. Sure, maybe I was only half conscious, but still... As for the beating, I deserved that. I shouldn't have made him wait. He deserves better than that.

But did he really? This man had just hit me. He left bruises on my body, I was sure. And I felt... Afraid. I was afraid of Adrian. Afraid of what he'd do when he woke up. So I did the only thing I could think of. I got dressed – which wasn't easy, thanks to my bruised body – and went out to my car. It was slightly dark outside, and when I checked the clock on my cellphone, I realized that it was 5:49am. Damn.

I started dialing Lissa's number as I began backing out of the driveway, and listened to the ringing for a while. I was about to hang up when a sleepy voice answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Li – wait, Christian?" I said, startled. That was not Lissa's voice on the phone.

"Uh, Rose?" he answered.

"Yeah, it's me. Where's Lissa?" I decided to ignore the fact that Christian had just woken up near Lissa's cellphone.

"She's asleep."

"Well, wake her up. I need to talk to her."

"Wouldn't you rather talk to me?" came the snark reply.

"Not while you're in Lissa's bed."

Christian mumbled something inaudible, and Lissa spoke into the phone. "Rose? Are you okay?" she sounded alert.

"I, well, uh... I think so." I said. "Are you at our apartment?"

"Of course. Need me to let you in?"

"Yeah. I'll be there in about ten minutes."

"Perfect. I'll see you there."

"Okay, bye," I said, and was just about to hang up when Lissa spoke again.

"Rose?"

"Hm?"

"Be careful."

It took me a moment to respond, and I felt tears well in my eyes as I thought about how Lissa had warned me last night. I should have stayed home. "I will." I choked out, and hung up the phone. The whole ride home was filled with tears.

When I arrived at the apartment building, I stepped out of the car gingerly, and crept to the door. Lissa was waiting for me. She had obviously been expecting me, but she wasn't expecting me to look like this. I was definitely bruised, I decided. Lissa stood there for a moment, frozen. Then she shook her head as a tear rolled down her cheek, and she opened the door. "Oh, Rose..." she whispered.

"I know," I told her. "I know."

She led me back to the apartment, supporting me the whole way (Even though I told her it wasn't necessary). Lissa was shaking, and it was probably because she'd never seen me like this before. I was always careful to hide my marks from her, for exactly this reason. But these marks couldn't be covered. Once safely inside, Lissa sat down on the couch with me, and began her lecture.

"I can't believe he did that to you! You have got to press charges against him or something, Rose. He can't do that to you. You should have never left last night. I shouldn't have let you." Tears were streaming down Lissa's face rapidly, and she began crying.

Because of me. My best friend was crying because of my stupid mistakes. "Liss, it's okay," I crooned. "I'm not going back." That wasn't necessarily true, but Lissa didn't need to know that right now.

"What's happen – oh." Christian came to a halt in the door frame of the living room. He was fully clothed, thank God. He just stared at me in wonder. "Did Adrian do that?" he asked.

"Yeah." I sniffed.

"You need to – "

"I know, Lissa told me," I said. "I need to quit seeing him."

"Go see a doctor," he finished, with a wry smile.

"No." I said forcefully. "There's no way I can go to a doctor like this. They'd ask to many questions."

Lissa got up, and tugged Christian into her bedroom again. I heard muffled voices, and then loud whispers. Soon, they came back, and Christian walked out of the apartment. He didn't look too happy. And neither did Lissa. "Come here," she told me.

I got up, and followed her to the bathroom. She closed the door behind us, and turned to face me. "Look in the mirror."

I did, and I stared in horror at the bruises that littered my face. This made what Adrian did last time look like nothing. I had a bruise on my cheekbone, a bruise on my eyebrow, and marks were all over my arms. "Oh my God..." I choked.

Lissa had a look of pity on her face, but she stayed stern. "Undress," she ordered.

"What...?" I asked in confusion.

"Undress. I want to see what else he did to you."

Lissa and I had changed in front of each other plenty of times, and we had no discomfort of each other anymore, especially after we jumped into a pool at the beach together, wearing absolutely nothing. Another one of our drunken moments. But this was different. I was suddenly scared to reveal my body to Lissa. And to my myself. I reluctantly took off all my clothes.

"You're ribs!" Lissa gasped.

Looking in the mirror, I saw a big ugly bruise on my left ribcage. It was an odd mix of green, purple, and blue, with a hint of black. But that wasn't the only bruise. There were a few on my legs as well, and I saw dried blood around one o f my nipples from where Adrian had punched me. I was no doctor, but I knew that wasn't suppose to happen. "I can't believe he did that..." I said, my voice thick with emotion.

"I can." Lissa said. "You're going to the hospital. Take a shower, and then I'll help you get ready.

I nodded, and watched her walk out. Finally alone, I let the tears steam yet again.

Two hours later, I found myself sitting on a hospital bed, with the same doctor as last time _tsk_ing at me. "Rosemarie, what happened to you?" she asked. "Did you fall down the stairs again?"

I was about to say yes, but a sharp look from Lissa stopped me. "No," I sighed. "I was mugged." Close enough to the truth, right?

"Did you report it to the police?" she asked me.

"I took care of the problem myself." I said breezily.

Dr. Olendski peered at me from the top of her glasses. "How'd you do that?"

"With a few good punches." I told her. "I've been learning some moves from some Russian guy at Office Depot."

Dr. Oldenski gave Lissa a curious glance. "She's been taking defense classes with me from this guy named Dimitri, who works at Offense Defense." Lissa explain apologetically.

"Good, good," said the doctor. "More people need to learn to defend themselves so that they don't get as hurt."

"So what's the report, doc?" I asked, eager to know that I would be okay. I was feeling much better after a few pain pills that I'd been given when I entered the hospital.

"Well, you have a bruised ribcage, bruised tissue in your right breast, and scattered skin bruises along your body. You'll be sore for a few days, but no serious damage."

"Awesome!" I said, hopping off the hospital bed and stumbling to the door. I had just opened it when Dr. Olendski spoke again.

"And Rose?" she said.

"Yeah, doc?" I replied.

"Look after yourself, okay deary?" She gave me a meaningful look.

"Got it." I said, and walked out of the cool room, with Lissa following behind.

When we got home, I relaxed on my bed and drifted into sleep, feeling drowsy from the pain pills.

**9 days Later...**

"Ready to go learn some moves?" Lissa asked me, as I peered at her between my sleepy lids.

"I suppose." I yawned.

"Great!" Lissa squealed. "Let's go!"

I rolled out of bed and put on my workout clothes: a pair of black spandex and a red spaghetti strap tank top. I ran a brush through my dark brown brown hair, and pinned it up in a ponytail. I gave myself one last examination, and hurried out of the door behind Lissa. By now, my body was mostly healed, and all my bruises were gone. Adrian hadn't called me since the incident, and I was secretly glad. I didn't want him around.

Have I mentioned that I have the worst luck in the world? Well, just for the record: I think black cats have more luck than I do. I found out just how shitty my luck really was when I walked into the training room where Dimitri held his sessions. Right there on the mat beside of mine stood none other than Adrian. Damn.

I pretended not to notice him, but I felt his glare burning through me as Lissa and I made our way to the mat. Lissa, however, glared right back at him, her jade eyes alight with a fire that I'd never seen before. Lissa was pissed.

Just then, Dimitri approached me. "Ah, Rose, nice of you to join us again. Why have you been skipping practice?" I saw Adrian give me a warning look behind Dimitri. I met his gaze, and suddenly had the desire to make Adrian mad. So I did.

"Oh, well, I was injured. I got beat up." I told him.

He gave me an astonished glance, clearly unsure of whether or not I was being truthful. Adrian was shooting me daggers, but I saw a little bit of fear in his eyes too. "You were beaten up?" Dimitri asked.

"Yeah. Some guy mugged me." I told him with a smile. "I kicked his ass, though." I gave Dimitri a wink at this last part.

"I bet you did," Dimitri said, and I saw a small smile on his face. I watched him as he walked back up to the front of the class, and Lissa leaned over to whisper in my ear.

"You're totally flirting with him." she said.

"Yeah, so what?" I asked, grinning mischievously.

"I'm glad. That means no more Adrian, hopefully."

As if he knew that we were talking about him, Adrian glanced over at us. I stuck out my tongue in response, and I saw that Adrian was _really_ pissed. Lissa just outright laughed. Adrian looked like he was about to come over to us, but Dimitri suddenly called the class to order. "Today we're going to work on more offensive moves. There are some punching bags in the back, and we are going to go practice on them a little more. Of course, they don't punch back, but that's for another time." he explained. He then led us into another room. Adrian slipped behind me in line.

"I swear to God, if you keep this up, I'm going to do much worse than I did last time." he hissed into my ear.

"No you won't." I said in response. "I'm never coming back to you."

"We'll see about that." he laughed.

We were in the room with the punching bags now, and I I grabbed Lissa's hand as we went to two side-by-side punching bags. Dimitri then began to explain how to punch and how to stand, things like that. When he finished, he started walking around in that watchful way of his. I turned to my cracked, brown leather punching bag, and balled my fist up, placing my thumb across my fingers. I ignored the mocking looks from Adrian, who'd managed to get the punching bag beside mine, and I thrust my fist forward. I made contact with the punching bag, and it barely moved forward.

I, on the other hand, stumbled backwards. I heard someone clear their throat behind me, and I turned around to look up into Dimitri's face. He was trying to hide a grin. "What's the grin for, Comrade? Like what you see?"

Dimitri rolled his eyes, and stepped forward. "Turn around and face the punching bag again," he told me. I did as he said, and suddenly felt his hands on me. One hand was resting on my hip, while the other was placed on my stomach, gently pushing. I felt electricity course through my body, and I think Dimitri felt it too, because he froze for a millisecond. Then he continued. "Stand like this. Hip slightly turned, stomach flat." His head was bent, and out of the corner of my eyes I caught a glimpse of a loose strand of his hair. I wanted to touch it so, so bad. I bet it felt like silk. I also saw Adrian, though. He was glaring at me yet again, and I saw something in his eyes that I didn't like. He was cunning, I knew that. I could only guess at what he was thinking.

Dimitri had stepped back now, but my breathing was slightly heavy from his touch. _Stop this, _I ordered myself. _You can't have a crush on him. He's your teacher, and he's way older than you._ I turned my attention back to the punching bag, and stood like Dimitri showed me. I drew back my fist, and thrust it forward again. This time, I didn't stumble backwards when I made contact with the leather. Grinning in triumph, I turned to face Dimitri. He was smiling proudly, and nodded his approval.

The rest of the day was more or less the same, with me punching the bag, and Dimitri giving me small smiles every now and then. And of course, Adrian was watching me the whole time. Not really glaring any more, but he looked like he was calculating his next move. His words from earlier rang through my head_. I swear to God, if you keep this up, I'm going to do much worse than I did last time._

After I left Offense Defense, I got ready for work. I had missed a lot of time when I had been bruised up, and I was eager to make up for it. Mason greeted me happily as I walked in the cafe, and Mia gave me a hug. There was already three tables awaiting me. I was in a great mood after today's Dimitri Session, so I delivered drinks and orders in a sort of happy daze.

Until Adrian showed up. I slowed my steps as his face peered at me over the menu. "Excuse me, waitress," he said rudely. "I'd like to order today, please."

"Yes sir," I said, standing up straight again. "What will you take today?"

"Hmm... This menu is so fucking shitty. And so is this place. No wonder you work here."

Ouch. I refused to let him anger me, though. Mason, however, had no such regards. He had overheard Adrian, and stormed over to the table. "If you can't respect the workers, you'll be asked to leave." he growled.

"Hey, hey, Mason. I got this." I told him, resting my hand on his shoulder.

"You really are a whore, Rose. You're doing the waiter, the instructor, and the weightlifter." Adrian said with a smirk.

"Oh really? Who's the bodybuilder?" I said with a glare.

Adrian frowned. "Just get me some fucking beer." he ordered me.

I stalked off and drug Mason with me. I grabbed a beer out of the cooler and poured it into and iced mug. After delivering it to Adrian's table, I slumped onto a bar stool.

Then Mia walked up. "Sorry to bother you Rose, but someone requested you. It's Too Sexy again. Lately, Mia had taken to calling Dimitri 'Too Sexy'. I laughed, and walked over to Dimitri's table.

"Hello hello." I said with a grin, leaning onto the table. "And what would you like today, Comrade?"

Dimitri smiled again, and ordered a Pepsi. Strange. He looked too hot to drink something ordinary. But I got the drink, regardless of the fact that it wasn't worthy of his lips, and waited for him to order. It was late afternoon now, and so Dimitri ordered a cheeseburger.

While it was cooking, I decided to sit with Dimitri since no one else needed me. "So, Comrade, how'd I do today?" I asked.

"Excellent." he replied. "You have a great stance. Er, for punching, that is." He coughed awkwardly at that last part, and I laughed.

"Yeah, I know what you meant," I said, still smiling. Just then, I heard someone call from a few tables over.

"Waitress! Where are you?" Ugh. Adrian.

"Yes?" I asked him.

"I'm leaving now."

"Yeah, people usually do that when they finish eating," I replied.

Adrian huffed in annoyance, and stood up abruptly. "Rose, you need to shut your fucking mouth. You've already crossed the line. You're going to pay."

"Yeah, I'm sure I will." I said. "And now it's your turn to pay." I handed him his check, and walked back to Dimitri's table.

"Are you okay?" he asked me. His concern made butterflies appear in my stomach again.

"I'm fine. Just annoying customers." I said with a grin.

"Isn't he in the same morning class as you?"

"Yeah." I replied. I didn't want to discuss Adrian with Dimitri. "I think your burger's done." I got up, and walked over to the front counter. Sure enough, Mason had just set out Dimitri's burger. I took it and set it down on Dimitri's table. I didn't sit and talk to Dimitri any more, because just then Mia informed me that my shift was over.

Sighing in relief, I walked outside. Since I walked to the cafe, I would have to walk back in the dark. Oh well. I loved taking walks. I passed a few local stores, and then saw the church. There was a single car in the parking lot with it's light on.

Going into ninja mode, I crept over to the car. I couldn't see any of it's features, because the light on inside of it was the only source of light around. I looked in the windows, but saw nothing. Strange.

Just then, a hand clamped over my mouth. My gut told me who it was. Adrian.

"Sh, Rose. Be quiet, and this will be a lot easier. It's time to make you pay." He reached forward to open the car door, and I took my chance. I brought my my foot up, kicking him right in the family jewels. I didn't care, though. I didn't need 'em anymore anyways.

Adrian hunched over, and I quickly turned around, pushing him down to the pavement. I didn't have time to much else, because I knew that I only had a small chance of escape, and a small amount of time to do it. I took off across the church parking lot, and heard a car door close.

Adrian's engine roared to life, and began pursuing me. I quickly grabbed something out of my pocket. It was a business card with Dimitri's cellphone number on it. I didn't waste a second in dialing the number. I was still racing away from Adrian, and ran to the side of a neighboring building. I dove into a large bush as Dimitri answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Dimitri! It's Rose. I need you to come ad get me, please." I knew I sounded desperate, and I had no doubt that Dimitri would rescue me.

"What's wrong? Where are you?" he asked.

"I'm at the church about five minutes away from the cafe. Or, actually, I'm in a bush at some store. Someone's chasing me – ahh!"

I hadn't known it, but Adrian had abandoned his car and was creeping around the side of the store. He had found me in the bush, and was trying to drag me out from under it. "Dimitri!" I screamed, reaching desperately for my phone.

Adrian wouldn't have it, though. He finished dragging me out from under the bush, and tried to pick me up. I didn't make it easy, and I struggled in his grip. He finally decided to pin me to the ground, with my hands behind my back.

"Now listen closely, Rose. Don't tell anyone. I mean it. Or I'll kill you."

I froze. Adrian was serious. His tone clearly indicated it.

"Now come with me." he said.

I got up, and allowed him to start walking me to the car. But in the distance, I saw headlights. They distracted Adrian, and I took the opportunity to break away from him. I turned and ran towards the bushes, and grabbed my phone. I quickly circled Adrian, and leaped over the hood of the car, towards the headlights.

I heard Adrian yell in frustration as he jumped into his car and screeched away. He had just pulled onto the road when the other car came to a halt. Dimitri jumped out. I ran towards him, and hugged him tightly. "Dimitri," I sobbed. I don't know why I started crying. Adrian hadn't hurt me... yet. And I wasn't one to cry very often. God, what was wrong with me?

"Sh, it's okay, Roza. He's gone."

"Roza?" I sniffed, peeping up at him.

He gave a small smile. "It's your Russian nickname." he told me.

"Oh. I like it."

"I'm glad." he said with a smile. "Now come on, I'll take you home."

"Thanks." I said, wiping away my tears.

I hopped in his black CR-V, and gave him directions to my apartment building. Wiping off my phone, I texted Lissa.

_**Be home soon. About 5 minutes**_

**_Okay. Be safe_** she replied.

And about five minutes later, Dimitri pulled into the parking lot of mine and Lissa's apartment building. We sat silently for a second, and Dimitri turned off the car. I turned to look at him shyly. "Again, thanks for the ride." I told him.

He looked over at me and gave me a smile. "Any time. Call me next time you need a ride though. Don't wait until something happens."

"I won't." I replied, unbuckling my seat-belt.

We stared into each other's eyes for a moment, and I leaned forward a little. Dimitri did the same, and our faces were just an inch apart. I wanted to close the distance so, so badly. But I wanted Dimitri to do it. I wanted him to kiss me first.

And boy, did he kiss me. He closed the space between us quickly, and his lips pressed to mine gently. So much more gentle than Adrian. And I like it this way.

I returned the kiss, and my body heated up. Our kissing intensified, and I reached over to unbuckle Dimitri's seat-belt. He allowed it to come loose, and took the opportunity to lean forward and press me against the car door. Dimitri's hands cupped my face as he kissed me even harder than before, and I allowed his tongue to slip into my mouth.

We separated to catch our breaths, and I stared into Dimitri's eyes again, wondering what the hell had just happened. I leaned forward and gave him another kiss, then stepped out of the car. I stared into his endless brown eyes for a moment longer. "Goodbye." I whispered, and closed the door. I walked back to the apartment quickly, half-worried that Adrian would jump out at me again.

I made it inside safely, and walked back to mine and Lissa's apartment, the whole way thinking about what I was suppose to do. Because yes, Adrian was a bitch to me. But I still had feelings for him. And I wanted to try and change Adrian. But I like Dimitri, too. And Dimitri was nice. But... Dimitri was twenty four. He was an adult, I was a minor. We had only kissed. There was no groping whatsoever. But still... I didn't want to get Dimitri in trouble with the law. Or with Adrian.

So I went to bed that night with muddled thoughts and feelings, reliving that kiss from Dimitri.

**_Finally. I finally found time to type up this chapter. It's the longest one I've written, so you better enjoy it! And wow! This story had 40 followers! I know that's probably not a big number, but considering this is like, my first fanfic, I'm amazed! Thank you thank you thank you to all people, especially my reviewers! I love you people!_**

**_~ VE_**


End file.
